Despite a rough week, I managed to make Gandalf and Bilbo costumes for my husband and our son! My husband is a huge LOTR fan and is currently reading through all of the histories, so when I offered to make him a Gandalf costume, he was ecstatic! My little guy is only 1 and not old enough to have an opinion about his clothes yet, so I take full advantage and dress him up however I please!

For Bilbo, since the outfit was so small, I used scraps from previous renfair and larp costumes to make an undershirt, vest, and cape. I drafted my own patterns based on some of Jack's T2 sized church clothes. It was surprisingly quick! I'd never really made kid clothes before, but working on a smaller scale really is faster! The ears are earmuff-style stuffed ears made from felt and attached to a headband and the feet are costume hair just stuck onto Jack's feet with spirit gum. (He thought that they were bugs at first and was wigged out, but we managed to convince him that they were "like fuzzy socks.")

For Gandalf I dyed my stash of estate-sale $1 sheets gray and then threw together a robe (gathered at the front and back for volume) and mantle, then used the scraps to cover a cheapo black witch hat in a patchworky style. A costume beard, age make-up, and some gray hair-dye completed the look! My only regret is not making it longer. I failed to account for belting it and lost several inches in length. I won't make that mistake again!

For pictures we went to a nearby park to get that shire/forest look, and to find a "wizard staff" among the broken branches. Overall I'm really happy with how it came out! If I weren't pregnant I probably would have tried to make an Arwen or Eowyn costume for myself too!